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gnot.bsky.social
grollen
@gnot.bsky.social
currently reinventing multiple wheels

urban cyclist

poetry, photography, politics & philosophy

cooking & gardening

Cultural Anthropologist

power is always productive.
who is it benefiting? how?
Reposted by grollen
After a college student finally found a treatment that worked for his ulcerative colitis, UnitedHealthcare decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs.

His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for rejecting claims.

(Published Feb. 2023)
UnitedHealthcare Tried to Deny Coverage to a Chronically Ill Patient. He Fought Back, Exposing the Insurer’s Inner Workings.
After a college student finally found a treatment that worked, the insurance giant decided it wouldn’t pay for the costly drugs. His fight to get coverage exposed the insurer’s hidden procedures for r...
www.propublica.org
February 12, 2026 at 2:30 AM
Reposted by grollen
i can’t stop laughing
February 15, 2026 at 12:05 AM
Reposted by grollen
Germany's far-right Alternative for Germany (AfD), the party supported by JD Vance and Elon Musk, are now looking to ICE in the US for inspiration and saying Germany needs an ICE of its own. www.politico.eu/article/euro...
European far-right parties push for ICE-style police
Fringe figures want to follow the Trump playbook for tackling unauthorized migration.
www.politico.eu
February 15, 2026 at 2:56 AM
Reposted by grollen
In solidarity with the people of Minnesota and every community across the country defending each other from ICE, we call on Target to refuse to cooperate with ICE. And until they do, we call for the ongoing BOYCOTT of Target.
#BoycottTarget #ICEoutofMinnesota #AbolishICE #ICEOutForGood #ICEOutNow
February 10, 2026 at 11:24 PM
Reposted by grollen
"[Victor Manuel] Diaz's autopsy is being performed at the [WBAMC] in Fort Bliss, which doesn't release autopsy reports to the public ... [T]he El Paso Medical Examiner recently ruled a previous detainee's death a homicide, contradicting ICE's contention that [Geraldo Lunas Campos] died by suicide."
"[M]igrant who died at an El Paso immigration detention center was sent to a military hospital rather than the county medical examiner who investigated two previous deaths at the facility — and concluded that one [..] was a homicide."
#Texas #USA #Incarceration #Deportation #EthnicCleansing #Suicide
After El Paso's ME ruled migrant's death a homicide, ICE sent the next body to an Army hospital
ICE bypassed the county medical examiner in favor of a military facility for the autopsy of a Nicaraguan man and won't release a ruling to the public.
www.texastribune.org
February 7, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by grollen
- pass a law that requires IDs and passports to vote
- use the State Department to stop passport processing

This is the end of free and fair elections in America.
February 14, 2026 at 10:34 PM
Reposted by grollen
lol this is gonna burst so fucking hard
February 14, 2026 at 11:47 PM
Reposted by grollen
February 15, 2026 at 12:16 AM
Reposted by grollen
New story up on the Homeland Security Department’s new tactic: flood social media companies with subpoenas to unmask anonymous accounts that criticize ICE or monitor the movements of ICE agents.

www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/t...
Homeland Security Wants Social Media Sites to Expose Anti-ICE Accounts
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 11:23 PM
Reposted by grollen
Kristi Noem: "When it gets to Election Day, we've been proactive to make sure we have the right people voting, electing the right leaders to lead this country."
February 14, 2026 at 2:51 PM
Reposted by grollen
We have no idea where Yglesias got his numbers but they’re wrong. This debate has for so long been plagued by numbers basically pulled out of thin air

Right pic is from my and @adambonica.bsky.social’s response essay: www.bostonreview.net/forum/how-no...
February 3, 2026 at 5:02 PM
Reposted by grollen
🧪🏺 Update - authors have new paper showing how useless gen- #AI is for archaeological illustration.
All 400 images were multiply inaccurate (physically, socially, technologically, environmentally), even with improved prompts.

JUST USE HUMAN EXPERTS & ARTISTS

www.cambridge.org/core/journal...
February 13, 2026 at 6:09 PM
Reposted by grollen
Rubio speech at MSC—in short: US sees global trade, diplomacy, migration, immigration, global institutions and global affairs in general as a “foolish post-WWII mistake” and invites Europe “so save itself by each protecting sovereignty, closed borders, and Christianity” alike Trump’s America.
February 14, 2026 at 8:29 AM
Reposted by grollen
This is a genuinely huge, sweeping victory today for the University of California—or rather, for us, its faculty, acting through our faculty associations, while the UC itself maintained a strict policy of deer-in-headlights silence.

The Trump admin has given up its appeal of a powerful injunction:
Trump administration drops appeal of court order blocking $1.2-billion UCLA settlement
The Trump administration dropped its appeal of a major higher education case in which a federal judge blocked its $1.2-billion settlement proposal to UCLA over alleged civil rights violations. It will...
www.latimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 4:57 AM
Reposted by grollen
Republicans are about to shut down FEMA, the Coast Guard and TSA in a few hours.

Instead of getting ICE under control this guy is having another meltdown online.

We will never let you steal the midterm election.
February 14, 2026 at 1:08 AM
Reposted by grollen
"Well-informed cynicism is only another mode of conformity."

✒️ #MaxHorkheimer, German philosopher and sociologist, was #BOTD 14 February 1895. #Philosophy
February 14, 2026 at 4:19 AM
Reposted by grollen
INBOX: Rep. Thomas Massie, who has enraged Trump for his insistence on blocking tariffs and releasing the Epstein files according to the law, just issued what is widely known among Chinese dissidents as "a declaration of no suicidal intent" (不自殺聲明), a sign of extreme distress.
February 13, 2026 at 11:17 PM
Reposted by grollen
EXCLUSIVE INTERVIEW: “I was literally begging the agent who was holding me back to let me do CPR,” she told The Intercept.
The Woman Alex Pretti Was Killed Trying to Defend Is an EMT. Federal Agents Stopped Her From Giving First Aid.
One of the women Alex Pretti was killed trying to defend is an EMT. Federal agents stopped her from giving him first aid.
interc.pt
February 13, 2026 at 3:25 PM
Reposted by grollen
Free buses can pay for themselves in saving wasted dollars on court cases over tiny amounts, reduce costs of enforcement, reduce traffic, increase efficiency because faster on and off, etc.

Leftist fantasy or smart money?

gift article www.nytimes.com/2026/02/13/o...
Opinion | Something Surprising Happens When Bus Rides Are Free
www.nytimes.com
February 13, 2026 at 10:00 PM
Reposted by grollen
Take the lane.
We’ve heard now from several reliable sources that federal agencies may remove a substantial chunk of the 15th St NW protected bike lanes near the National Mall in February, possibly as early as next week.
Federal meddling on 15th Street « Washington Area Bicyclist Association
waba.org
February 14, 2026 at 4:34 AM
Reposted by grollen
A person who solves a lot of the same kind of problem, with the same kind of solutions, will find their experience *actively working against them* when they encounter a similar-looking problem requiring a different solution.
June 7, 2024 at 2:21 PM
Reposted by grollen
This is because the better you become at solving a problem, the less you have to think to do it. You know which details to look for, what the important parts are to pay attention to, etc.

You don't have to pay as much attention, or think, as you did that first time.
June 7, 2024 at 2:20 PM
Reposted by grollen
so this will be not much possible for me as i got hills and houses and so forth blocking the view...would have to go somewhere with clear horizon just to see it😣
#astronomy
#astrophotography

(ofc clouds would like to make a visit too probably)
Early Tuesday morning, March 3, a total eclipse of the Moon will be visible from throughout North America.

Board of Trustees member @fraknoi.bsky.social has provided an information sheet to answer your most pressing questions! 🧪 🔭

Read more:
The March 3, 2026 Total Eclipse of the Moon
An Information Sheet by Andrew Fraknoi (U. of San Francisco, Fromm Institute)
www.seti.org
February 14, 2026 at 3:22 AM
Reposted by grollen
300 million people protested in India against the pro-corporate, anti-worker, anti-farmer policies of the Modi government.

Unsurprisingly, this has not been reported by the pro-corporate, anti-worker Australian media and scarcely by the Indian media.

#India #ProtestsWork #MSM
Bharat Bandh: 30 crore workers join all-India general strike against labour codes, Centre’s policies
Bharat Bandh today: Workers across India observed a day-long strike on Thursday, protesting government policies they describe as anti-worker and pro-corporate. The strike affected banking, insurance, ...
economictimes.indiatimes.com
February 14, 2026 at 4:33 AM